Deadwood

So according to Houston resident Douglas Brinkley, the Bush administration wants New Orleans to “die on the vine”.

I believe that.

I’ve been saying that their whole plan since the beginning was to starve out those too poor to wait out the rebuilding/insurance money.

I think the W administration calls it the Biafra strategy.

So what is going to happen? Nothing.

Nothing will be completed, flood protection-wise, until after the next hurricane.

Bank on it.

That will run the rest of us who have fought so valiantly for our city out of here. The cry of Sinn Fein will be silenced.  Those of us with children will not be able to make it work here any more, and those children will now cry when they attend parades.  “Daddy, why aren’t they throwing any beads to us?” 

What do I tell them?  What should I tell them?  What do you tell children raised in the greatest culture on earth that have been evicted into Amerika?

"They aren’t from New Orleans, so they don’t have any clue what to do during a parade?"  Will that cut it for kids used to having sore necks from the weight of the throws?  From having sore faces from smiling so much?  Will that do?

The collusion of the insurance companies, the developers, and the federal government has been obvious since the beginning.  The utilities are ready to write us off, as are most of the country.

At this point, I’m just staying as long as I can.  I haven’t received my homeowners insurance bill for next year, but I’m sure it will be outrageous.  As is my electrical bill, my gas bill, and so on.  But I stay. 

Every day in New Orleans is a good day. The best food, the best people, the best bars, the best football team, the best arena, the best music.

You either take all of it or nothing.  No "part timers" wanted here.  No "brother-in-law" fans.  You love New Orleans, then you love jazz, you love po-boys, you love the Saints.  It is all one: take it all or leave it all.  It is New Orleans, and if you buy into it, you buy into all of it, and then you are New Orleans as well.

So what happens when the next catastrophe occurs?  What about all the land below sea level that is usually habitable when the ever-incompetent Corps is in a non-fiesty mood.

When the great swaths of non-overdeveloped property are abandoned in New Orleans, places that served as homes for many of our most valuable citizens, what will happen?  Will they have a fence erected around them?  Will they just be laid fallow?

What about the outlaws that refuse to go?  What about those that will stay in New Orleans come hell and high water and government abandonment? 

Will NOLA become the new Deadwood?  Will we have our own faux government?  We got the mud, we got the corruption.

Maybe we'll finally create Hamsterdam.  We'll be a tourist attraction again.  Maybe guys like Larry Craig can finally find a safe place to cruise.

In any case, I have the vocabulary, so I’d like to lay claim on Swearingen’s character.  I nominate Karen Gadbois for Calamity Jane.  The rest of you fight it out amongst yourselves.

Comments

[Varg]

Mook alert!

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/OPINION04/708250323/0/OPINION

[bigezbear]

Brilliant! I'm stayin' with ya!

[GentillyGirl]

We know what we can do to send the message to AmeriKKKa that we are not OK.

[wendy]

At first I thought the Biafra strategy had something to do with Jello. Too much Wesley Willis in my youth, I spose. :)

[Victor]

fuck me.Looking at the holes that burton and nonoan picked at in lenihans budget is scary. He's looks like he made the budget up on the run and is just fucking it in behind him on the way outNew SF dude is like a kid in sweeet shop, he's hyper as fuck and running around like a rabbit on mushies. Though the 4 of them bunched up together there do look like a gang I'd walk across the road to avoid

[Jenggoot]

Emergency protest rally!!Saturday, October 22, 12 noon. Federation Square, City. Today a masivse police operation violently broke up the peaceful City Square occupation. There were over 58 arrests. Then the cops forced protesters up Swanston Street. Protestors went to Trades Hall where a general assembly decided to hold an emergency protest on Saturday. Please spread the word as widely as possible

[Kie]

True he's had a bad run since Jan of last year but so have a number of other a8stalwartsa8 like Bendtner(scores more thgouh), Arshavin, Walcott,Rosicky (seems to be returning to form thank God)and Ramsey(sure can score the big goals thgouh!)You neglect to take into account his lack of playing time and also the dearth of good crosses into the opponent's area. I believe he will return to form when he gets the service he needs to get his head on the ball and when RVP needs a rest, but so far, barring injury, it doesn't look like he'll get more games than CC and maybe FA Cup outings.This season we have strength in depth what with Arteta,AOC, Park, Gervinho, Benayoun, Frimpong, Ryo and Rosicky all pushing for a place in the midfield or up front. Once Wilshere and Diaby return, we will be really faced with an embarassment of choices and Chamakh may become surplus to requirements but AW will not move on him until we have our walking wounded back and the African Cup is over.